So yesterday we took delivery of our new Civic Hybrid (in an attractive shade of Magnetic Pearl, with the dealer-$-packed options including a custom leather interior). We’ll be selling the Odyssey in the next few weeks (anyone want a nice 2000 Odyssey?), and this will be our only car (well, we do have four motorcycles…).
The tipping point toward decision was a spill TG took on her motorcycle while commuting; minor, little damage except to the cosmetics of her new bike and to my lifespan as the anxiety hit my adrenals…The program in California that lets hybrids use the HOV lanes is about to close, and by buying a hybrid now, we could get stickers allowing her to drive to work and still use the carpool lane – a saving of about 15 minutes on her otherwise 50 minute drive.
Hopefully, she’ll use it…
But there were other reasons as she & I discussed it last week.
The biggest one is simple; we’re down to one kid in the house, I’m not racing motorcycles (requiring a trailer), and so we haul around a bigger vehicle than we need. Objectively, the environmentally soundest thing we could do would be to put another 60 or 70,000 miles on it, and not buy a new vehicle.
But I do think it’s worth something to make tradeoffs between long-term and short-term impacts, and right now the thing we need to do is buy less oil. And while the difference between a 25mpg Odyssey and a 35mpg Civic Hybrid isn’t great, there’s some difference – back to my minor steps that add up theory.
And like it or not, it’s a public statement. In my case it’s not a public statement about global warming or saving the ice cap. It’s a public statement about lowering the price of oil and starving the funding for Finbury Mosque and all the other places around the world where people are being taught to hate me and my children.
So yes, I know we’ll likely never see a ROI on the price we paid unless gas is $4.00 per gallon. The value to me is the security of TG commuting more miles on 4 wheels instead of 2, and of my putting our money – literally – where my mouth is on what we ought to do about energy policy.
Once we get a few miles on it, I’ll talk about it some more.
I picked up the Toyota Prius about a month ago.
Love the 50mpg. I travel 350 miles a week going to work and back.
Have Fun!
I don’t really care about statements or “social responsibility.” If you like the car and it’s worth what you paid for it, that’s all that matters.
Even $2.89/gal, I wouldn’t give up My 300C for anything. I’m willing to pay for more gas, but get a more comfortable car at a reasonable price.
That’s the advantage of a market.
Though the car-pool lane thing would be pretty tempting. I remember driving from Anaheim to LAX daily. 1:15 was about typical (15 years ago).
There’s a “report online done by CNW Marketing Research”:http://cnwmr.com/nss-folder/automotiveenergy/ that concludes that the Prius and other hybrids are “actually much more enviromentally destructive than non-hybrids and trucks”:http://elfs.livejournal.com/498687.html because of all the non-recyclables used in their construction. That means much more of their components will wind up in landfills at the end of their lifespans than regular cars would.
There are good reasons to get a hybrid, and AL mentioned most of them, but if that report is valid environmental friendliness isn’t one of them.
This has been the best thing we’ve ever done to cut pollution and cut our dependence on Mideast oil in time of war. By my calculations, it cost me only $2K more than an equivalent Toyota Echo, of which part was immediately rebated in a tax break that year, and the rest long since recovered in lower gas bills, even before gas prices recently doubled.
Plus, until last month I never spent a penny maintaining the Prius, as all that was covered up to 45K miles. Even now, maintenance is inexpensive, and needed half as often as on some other cars.
Consumer Reports once reported Prius owners remain the most satisfied of all car owners, and that is certainly true of me.
But don’t take my word for it, find one and “Just Drive It”. Everyone who has ever driven ours has loved it, and one brother now has one too, not to mention a sister who now has a Honda Civic Hybrid.
When I got my 06 Mustang, I wanted custom plates that said: DRLANWR but someone has them. I’ll have to settle with TAPANWR instead.
Gabriel: Care to umpack those? I’m not gettin’ them as contractions/acronyms/whatever…
S’OK, Gabroel …we’re getting a variant of “ECO FRAUD”…
A.L.
A.L.,
ROFL.
I saw SAVANWR and couldn’t resist. ECO FRAUD, sadly is one letter too many.
Our next car will be something fun to drive, big enough to be comfortable for four, durable and get good gas mileage. There’s not too many out there like that. The Mercedes E class diesel would be just right, but for price tag and maintenance costs. We’re leaning toward an Accord Hybrid. Anyone got any other ideas? Durable and gas mileage are high on the list – my commute is 55 miles one way.
Our cargo vehicle is an Avalanche, and my wife’s fun car is an 06 Mustang GT convertable. We’re also looking for a plastic Prius or Civic rear end, to hang on the grill of the Avalanche. (Big bug splat effect) That way, even if we’re driving a hybrid, no one can accuse us of being too PC.